


twisting my soul around

by galaxymuncher



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: AU where the losers didn't separate, Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Boys In Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Teen Years, and ended up going to high school together, sue me y'all I just want my kids to stick together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-01-12 01:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18436031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxymuncher/pseuds/galaxymuncher
Summary: ' I'm so in love, so in love, so in love, so in love '' Oh, how it hurts, how it hurts, yes it hurts when it burns '[a tiny break from friendship fics for relationship junk]





	twisting my soul around

It'd been several years since the summer of 1958, the evil had been defeated for what seemed like forever but would probably be temporary. The wind seemed to blow in a different direction, whispering secrets that only the trees seemed to hear. Summers came and went in flashes, school years went by, and everyone seemed to gradually forget what happened bit by bit. Soon enough, another summer came into view once more, waves of children and teens rushed through the doors of schools, running to their freedom for several months. A few boys in specific pushed their way through the crowd, hooting and cheering with joy.

"Oh sweet freedom!" Called the one most to the front, pumping his arms into the air, "See ya hell hole! Smell ya never again! God I'm so glad to get my ass out there, no more classes, no more homework, no more shit teachers!"

"Beep beep Richie!" Stated another one, smaller in stature.

Richie turned back to his group of friends and chuckled, sticking his tongue out in protest.

"Oh come on, Eds! Lighten up a bit!! We're finally out for the summer and we won't ever have to set foot here again!"

Eddie rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he made his way down the stairs toward the street where their bikes were parked. It was indeed true, the group wouldn't have to suffer through any more years of high school, seeing as they finally graduated as seniors and were well on their way to making it to college. The rest of the group followed behind as they listened to Richie and Eddie banter, the leader of the group Bill trailing uncharacteristically behind. He seemed deep within thought as he gazed up toward the sky, watching a cloud eclipse the sun for a moment before a voice beside him knocked him back to reality.

"Heya Bill, you doing alright there?"

He turned his head only to see Beverly shuffling beside him as they walked. She looked beautiful as she always did, she had parted her hair in two side pigtails, much like the ones she used to wear when they were kids, with the hair out of her face it really highlighted her natural beauty, and Bill was sure to make a note of that as he looked at her.

"Oh, h-hey Bev" He replied, diverting his gaze to the side after a moment.

"You seem rather distracted, I thought you were surely gonna trip down those stairs a moment ago....something on your mind?"

Bill paused for a while, standing in the school yard with his head directed downward, he didn't know what to say or how to express his deepest thoughts to his close friend. His stutter was getting better, granted, but that wasn't a roadblock anymore so he couldn't use it as an excuse as to why he couldn't talk about what was on his mind. Just as he was about to respond with something bland, Richie's annoying voice rang down from the bike stand and interrupted him.

"Yo Big Bill! You suddenly frozen to the spot? Need me to come over there and defrost you or can the caveman break out from his ice-block on his own??" 

To add further insult, Richie made caveman noises and performed caveman-like actions such as scratching under his armpits and flailing his arms about. Bill decided that his thoughts could be put on hold in the moment, he could come back to them later when he wasn't being taunted by one of his best friends. The two made their way down, Beverly gently nudging Bill as he rolled his eyes.

"Lighten up, Trashmouth is just joking like he normally does...but if you need anything, let me know" Beverly stated, her expression soft and serious.

"I-I'll make sure to kuh-keep that in mind, thanks Bev"

Soon the two made it to the rest of the group, filling the hole in the semi circle they seemed to be making around the bike stand. Bill gently shoved Richie upon arrival, chuckling.

"Alright, alright I'm sorry Big Bill! Eet won't happen again, señor!" Richie replied, pushing up his glasses as he lazily did his imitation of a mexican man.

In reply, Bill simply rolled his eyes again. Richie was always one to make up voices since they were kids...especially during that one terrifying summer. They weren't any better than they were back then but he wasn’t about to complain, all he wanted to do was go home and rest up. It was gonna be a long summer, Bill could tell. He waved goodbye to his friends as they all pedaled off one by one, with Beverly being the last one out, giving Bill a knowing glance before she pedaled away.

”Yuh-y-you wanna ride with me today, Richie? O-or do you wuh-wanna walk home?” Bill asked, grabbing his bike, Silver, off the stand.

Richie shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’ve got not much of a choice, eh? Since my feet are sooo sore from all the walking I’ve done”

Bill laughed, gently punching the other in the arm.

”You liar! You h-haven’t walked even a muh-m-mile today!”

"Alright! You've caught me red handed good sir! Please spare me the lecture and lets go, I wanna get home so I can watch some television before the ol' folks of mine get home and take over"

He nodded, jumping onto his bike, patting the spot on the back of his bike as a sign to hop on. Richie took up the offer immediately, jumping on as Bill began to pedal slowly.

"Hiyo, Silver! Away!" Bill yelled as he pedaled along.

"Can't help yourself, can ya Big Bill?" Richie teased, chuckling.

"It's w-what I do, it's what gives S-Silver his power, otherwise we'd be s-stuck at the school"

Richie simply rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose as he watched the world go by from the back of Bill's 'magical bike'. Everything seemed so fast from this view, in his mind he couldn't help but compare everything to a blurred photograph, and yet when his focus was shifted onto one thing it seemed to move slower than everything else.

'A trick of the mind' Richie thought, swinging his legs back and forth in the wind.

They were picking up speed now, the wind soared faster. Their hair fluttered in the wind as if it had a mind of its own, Bill's muscles ached from a long day of not using them but continued to push onward, he knew there was Upmile Hill coming up soon and he needed as much energy as he could muster if he was going to get him and Richie down it without spinning out. He'd done this many times in their youth, but lately he hadn't been able to cross the dreaded hill of a street as he'd found an alternate way of getting to the school without the hassle everyday. Today, was different however, he wanted to challenge himself, to test himself to see if he still had all that skill he'd worked on since he first bought Silver all those years ago. Before they were even a mile away, Bill turned his head to look back at Richie, a wild grin spread on his features, giving him almost a young, boyish like charm.

"Hold onto y-your ass, Richie!" Bill called, turning to face forward once more.

"Wha? What's--"

Before Richie had a chance to finish his sentence, he felt the familiar feeling of stomach anxiety one felt when heading down a steep slope unexpectedly, almost as if on a roller-coaster for the first time as it drops. He let out an unexpected yelp as the two sped down Upmile Hill, racing past places of business, weaving past car after car in traffic. Bill ignored the angry honks of pedestrians as he sped through a red light, carefully skimming past speeding cars that only wanted to head home before the weather got hotter, he let out a hearty laugh as he felt the blood pumping in his veins, his heart racing with excitement, he hadn't felt this free since he last rode Silver like this...riding him to beat the devil as he put it. Eventually they reached the end of Upmile Hill's large slope and skidded to a stop at the end to catch his breath. Richie had been holding his breath until the last moment, he looked down at his hands and noticed that they were gripping tightly onto the seat's edge, his knuckles white from how tightly he'd been holding it. After he let go, he noticed how red his fingers were but he didn't seem to care.

"You've still got it, Big Bill, congrats" Richie said, half smiling as he tried to process what happened.

Bill laughed wildly again, throwing his head back as he did so. He pushed back some hair from his face, looking at Richie with a wide grin.

"Sure do! I'm g-glad I can still d-do that without getting killed" Bill replied, turning back forward as he pedaled off again.

Under any other circumstance's, Richie would've been fine with Bill's response, but since he felt like he was gonna die today having JUST graduated high school, he felt on edge. A memory came to his mind of the last time he rode double with Bill when they were kids, they'd done the same exact thing; ridden down Upmile Hill while weaving carefully and effortlessly through traffic as if it were nothing. Bill was always a show-off when it came to him and his biking skills, but Richie didn't seem to mind...just so long as they weren't skills that weren't trying to kill him.

'Jeez, I'm starting to sound like Stan--I'm so glad he isn't here to witness this or else I'd never hear the end of it' Richie thought, half-chuckling to himself.

The rest of the ride to Richie's place was quiet, Bill rode at a steady pace the rest of the way and didn't speed up again once. Eventually they ended up at his front door, to which he dismounted and waved goodbye before trudging off, shaking his hair out while silently hoping that he didn't get any bugs or dirt in it, which would mean he'd have to take a much unneeded shower.

Bill watched Richie walk into his home, not moving until he was sure he was safely inside, to which he sighed and remounted Silver and rode off back toward his own estate. In all truth, the red-head didn't want to go home at all, he would've rather stay out all night and sleep on a park bench than go home to his own bed. Things were...tense at home lately, his father still cold and distant, his mother the same. Nobody communicated anymore, and when they did? It was an argument or a yelling match right in his face. It was too much for him to handle. He eventually reached home a few minutes later, hesitantly dismounting his bike once more as he carefully set Silver in his place before shuffling inside, only to hear screaming and yelling from his mother from the upstairs hallway.

"GET OUT OF MY FACE, ZACHARY AND GET OUT!" She yelled, slamming the door to what Bill presumed was his parent's shared bedroom.

He heard the sound of pounding fists on the door as he father begged to be let in, cooing softly for his mother to open the door, that she was being unreasonable again.

"Sharon...please, you know I didn't mean to bring him up...just please, let me in and we can discuss this civilly" Zack Denbrough cooed, gently knocking on the door.

Bill knew he wasn't getting upstairs to his bedroom anytime soon if this was going to continue, so he sighed and shuffled his way to the kitchen to prepare himself some late afternoon lunch. He didn't realize how late it really was, initially thinking it was only a little while into the afternoon, only to check the clock situated by the sink and see it was close to 6.

'How did the time go by so fast? I thought that ride only took a short while...huh, I guess time is just slipping by faster and faster' Bill thought, his eyes dull of any kind of surprise or shock.

In the time it took his parents to once again start up a yelling match, Bill had managed to make himself a PB&J sandwich and eat it. He walked into the living room before stopping upon hearing a loud THUMP! from the upstairs hallway.

'My god! Who fell over and died??' He thought as he rushed out into the main area where the stairs were and rushed up them.

What awaited him was far worse than he initially thought. Standing a few feet away from him was his mother, standing above his father out of breath. His father laid on the floor, shaking with absolute fear in his eyes as if he were pleading for his life. She barreled down on him several moments later, striking him with several blows to the chest with her bare fists as she screamed in his face.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE IT BE, ZACHARY DENBROUGH!"

"Mom!" Bill yelled, rushing over to pull her off of him.

Sharon Denbrough whipped around upon hearing her son calling to her, wild anger in her eyes. As Bill struggled to pull his thrashing mother off of his father, he felt a strong hand smack him across the cheek harshly with a WHAP! Causing him to fall to the hard floor and skid for a few moments. He looked up with fear as he held the cheek she had hit only a few moments ago, fresh tears coming to his eyes. She looked to him, pointing a finger at him with eyes as dark as the shadows in the hall.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, WILLIAM" She yelled, stomping toward him and grabbing him by the collar, pulling him closer to her face, "GOT THAT?"

Bill nodded several times, but not before he felt another smack to his face as she let him go. He started to scoot away as he heard his mother speak to him again, her back turned to face toward him and that her face was back facing toward Zach Denbrough.

"You're a failure of a child, do you know that Bill? You got hit by a car when you were 2, you got that STUPID stutter that makes you sound moronic, and on top of that? You can't even make PROPER friends...you hang around with those..those--hoodlums! Those absolute freaks of nature!"

He felt his heart break in two as his mother spoke, every word like a needle stabbing him, he gripped his chest as he stopped moving away, his whole body beginning to shake as he tried to stand up, yet he could only get up a few centimeters before his legs gave out again and he flopped back to the floor. This wasn't right...his mother would NEVER utter such harsh words, not directly at him anyways. Sharon Denbrough spoke again, her tone just as harsh, if not harsher.

"That boy you keep talking about...Richie, was it?" She started to say, turning around slowly toward Bill, "I don't want you to speak of him anymore...hell, I don't even want you to SEE him anymore, he's just as bad an influence as your other little friends are, he smokes, he swears, he's so vulgar Billy....I want you to keep SOME civility to you"

"M-Mom...he's not a buh-b-b-bad influence, I promise" Bill replied, his words shaky as he felt his stutter harshly returning tenfold.

"Oh shut UP will you? You can't defend yourself when your words have become your worst enemy, so what's the point in fighting me? I'm your MOTHER Bill, I know better than you, now either you leave him and your stupid friends, or you can get your ass out of this house and never come back"

His mother pointed in the direction of the front door down the stairs, her eyes dull and dark. Even when his mother was upset, her eyes still had some glimmer of hope to them. Bill now KNEW there was something incredibly wrong with his mother at this current time...was this EVEN his mother?? He had to be sure. He quietly and shakily managed to make it to his feet, looking her right in the eyes. Suddenly he gasped, his hands going to his mouth to stop his scream. Right as he had made it to his feet fully, a large bug had crawled across his mother's face having come from somewhere in her unbrushed hair. Her face contorted into a wild grin, a loud laugh rising from within her as she moved closer toward the red-head.

"Did you hear me Bill?" She asked after a few moments, laughing again as she continued to point, "I said...either stay here...OR LEAVE!"

After finishing her sentence, she lunged after Bill, crashing into him and sending him slamming onto the floor with another loud THUD! He screamed as he hit with full force onto the hard floor on his back. He struggled against the force of his 'mother', holding back her fists to prevent her from causing him any further harm. They thrashed about the floor, slamming against one of the walls, knocking down a family picture and causing it to shatter. He eventually gained the upper hand, twisting one of his mother's fists away from him to shove her away. She hit the floor with a soft WHUMP! as Bill then scrambled back to his feet, out of breath he stood there for a moment, watching his 'mother' try to get to her feet.

"You're NOT my mother" Bill said, his voice shaky but firm, "My muh-mother would never say such v-vu-vulgarities...and would NEVER insult me t-to my face like that. I don't know w-who you are...or w-wuh-what you are, I've got a good idea b-but I don't entirely know for sh-sh-ure....all I know is that you. aren't. my. mother."

He then rushed down the stairs, tripping on the bottom step but quickly regaining his balance as he ran as fast as he could to the front door, not caring that it was nearly dark out, not caring that he left his jacket on the edge of his bed (seeing as it would be cold out by now), and CERTAINLY not caring that he just left his father in the hands of....IT. It screamed out viciously for Bill, scrapping itself against the floor as It attempted to chase after him. But, having been weakened by the fight with Zack Denbrough, it only had so much energy to use left, all it could do was scream and yell and drag itself toward Bill.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT! DON'T TALK TO YOUR MOTHER LIKE THAT! BILL DENBROUGH I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL BEAT YOU INTO A BLOODY PULP IF YOU DON'T GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"

But Bill was faster, he'd already made it out the door by the time he'd heard It start to scream at him again. He rushed into the garage, quickly taking Silver out of his place, mounting him, and began pedaling off.

"Hiyo, Silver! Away!" He yelled as he took off.

Of course, Silver wasn't as fast at first, to which Bill cursed himself internally for, but he knew he'd still have the advantage in this case. He whipped his head around as he pedaled off, only to see It standing in his doorway, hunched over, breathing hard, arms hung limply at its side. It screamed one last time before Bill turned his attention away, back in the direction he was heading.

'Keep pedaling...keep pedaling...you'll be safe once you're out of the area' Bill thought, standing up on the pedal's to gain even more speed.

There was only one place the red-head could think of that would be safer for him to be at, the one place that It would never touch; The Barrens. The problem, however, was that The Barrens was too far away and Bill only had so much energy he could exert when it came to riding Silver nowadays. He scanned around for any familiar home's that he could possibly seek shelter in...until he remembered that there was one person in particular that was VERY close by that he KNEW he'd be safe at; Richie's. Pushing himself further, he pedaled and pedaled until he finally saw the familiar frame of the house come into view, he let out a yelp of joy as he approached. Quickly dismounting Silver, Bill shoved the bike to the ground harshly, regretting slightly that he'd been rough with dismounting Silver, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He rasped his hand against the door repeatedly, looking over his shoulder to be sure he wasn't being followed by It as he waited for someone to answer the door. Soon enough, after a few moments, he was greeted by the familiar sight of his best friend behind the door as it swung open.

"Bill? The hell are you doing here so late?" Richie questioned, rubbing his eyes.

"No time to talk, let me in please...I-It's an emergency" Bill quickly replied, pushing past Richie to get into his home.

Richie didn't complain, he'd seen the fear in Bill's eyes and knew something was up. Closing the door behind them, Richie guided Bill over to the living room where the TV was on, playing some sort of late-night infomercial having to do with jewerly trading or something. The red-head sat on the sofa, his whole body trembling as he tried to catch his breath, Richie carefully set himself down beside him, placing a gentle hand on Bill for a moment before he yanked himself away, clearly startled by the touch.

"Big Bill...what on earth happened? You look like you saw a ghost ooze out of your walls or something close" Richie tried to joke, earning only a glare from Bill.

"Ruh-R-Richie...Beep Beep" Was all Bill replied with, turning his attention to the floor as he went back to trying to steady himself.

Silence. Neither of the two spoke for a long while, only the sound of the TV in the background was there to completely fill the silence. Richie had gotten up in the meantime and made the two of them some drinks; a coke for himself and a water for Bill, seeing as he didn't want to bother to ask Bill if he wanted a soda or not. Bill took one sip of his water before he finally found the nerve to speak up.

"Rich...I-I think I encountered it for the f-fur-first time in 7 years now..."

"What???" Richie replied, clearly shocked, "We defeated It all that time ago! How is that even possible"

Bill simply shrugged, taking another small sip, "I don't know...w-we need to tell the o-others though, so they can b-be aware of what happened..."

"What even DID happen, Bill? What'd you see? What form did it take on this time"

Bill paused, taking a deep breath as his hand holding his drink noticeably began to shake. "It....It took the form of my mother...and attacked me"

"Oh my god....holy shit that's rough, I'm so sorry man"

He shrugged, setting his drink down on the table, pulling his legs up toward his chest before laying his head against his knees. Bill was exhausted, he'd had a long and rough day and all he wanted to do was sleep.

'Maybe if I sleep...then I can forget this whole thing happened and move on with my life finally' Bill thought with a sigh.

Richie frowned, scooting closer to his best friend. He hated seeing him like this, he was their fearless leader...and yet, he was human as well. He knew that he wasn't supposed to put his best friend on a pedestal like that, but he couldn't help it. This was the person he looked up to, admired the most out of all the losers in their little losers club. Bill stood tall when everyone else cowered, he threw the first rock against Bower's all that time ago, he saved them all. But here he was, cowering like they all did whenever they were witness to It and it's wrath. He again reached over and placed a gentle hand on his back, rubbing it up and down slowly as a way to help calm him down.

"Listen Bill" Richie began to say, his voice gentle and quiet, "I know that you probably don't wanna go home right now...so you're free to stay here tonight, you can take my bed and I'll stay down here and sleep on the couch, does that sound good?"

Bill lifted his head, his eyes wet with fresh tears as he simply shook his head.

"No....Rich, I can't take y-your bed, it's yours for a reason"

Richie laughed a bit, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I insist Big Bill, our fearless leader deserves only the best, dontcha know?"

This caused a small laugh to escape Bill's lips, Richie always seemed to find a way to make him feel better, and he would always be grateful for that. Richie removed his hand from Bill's back, nodding his head to the side as if to motion for Bill to follow him. To which, the red-head did, the two boys walked up the stairs, walking down the hall for a brief moment until they reached Richie's bedroom. Bill had only been in there a handful of times, the last time he'd done so was back after the last summer of their elementary year, right before they all graduated and headed off to middle school. It was different than he last remembered, more posters hung to the walls, many of which featured women in bikini's or different band's he hadn't or had heard of before. There was a radio on the nightstand by Richie's bed, a desk by the window covered in assorted magazines and paper. It felt...right, a bedroom made for Richie that he couldn't achieve until now. He laughed a bit upon entering.

"What's so funny, Big Bill?" Richie teasingly questioned, placing a hand to his hip sassily.

"It's just that....I remember w-when this room was so barren and e-empty, and now look at it---" Bill replied, covering his mouth as he chuckled again.

Richie let out a chuckle as well, walking over to close his blinds for the night, turning on his desk-lamp as he did so.

"Yeah, I went and redecorated recently, I thought it looked---too plain for me, I needed to 'Richie' it up if you will"

Bill went into another fit of laughter, soon joined by Richie. The both of them laughed for a while until it eventually died down. There was a moment of silence until Richie began to move things around the room, as if to tidy it up a bit.

"Oh Rich, you d-don't gotta do that" Bill said, awkwardly standing there as he watched.

"Nah, I wanna make it neater for ya, so you won't bump into anything on accident in the night if you decide to get up at all"

"Huh...ok, well, thanks I guess"

After several moments, Richie deemed it clean enough, clapping his hands together as if to get the dust off of them. He looked over to Bill with a small smile, walking over to him.

"Alright, everything should be good now, the bed isn't made since I can't make my bed for shit, sorry about that" Richie said, looking about his room for a moment before speaking once more, "Lets see....the bathroom is down the hall, last door on your right if you need to use it, my parents are out of town as I found out right when I got home so you don't need to worry about them being around, and I'll be downstairs if you need anything..."

Richie placed his hand on Bill's shoulder briefly, before he removed it to head out of the room. Almost out of instinct, Bill reached out and grabbed the back of his shirt to stop him, gripping tightly. Richie was surprised by this and turned his head around, seeing the worried look on the other's face and noticing that he was shaking again. He blinked as he turned fully around.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Richie asked, concern in his tone.

Bill looked off to the side, his head pointed down to the ground, his hand gripping his other arm tightly and nervously, his feet shuffling slightly on the rug below him.

"Don't leave...I want you t-to sleep here too tonight...I d-don't feel comfortable sleeping alone" Bill replied, eventually looking up to meet Richie's eyes.

He didn't know what to think for a moment, never had ever thought he'd share his bed again, especially not with Bill off all people. A light blush of embarrassment covered his cheeks as he let out a laugh. He didn't mind of course, he'd shared his bed before with many of the other losers club members growing up, this wasn't his first time housing the losers whenever they were distressed, for some reason his house seemed to be a beacon for those in need of a place to feel safe and comfortable in times of great fear and panic. He guided Bill back over to the bed and sat him down, leaning down to look him in the eyes with a smile, his face highlighted ever so slightly by the light emitting from the desk-lamp.

"Sure Bill, I'll stay here tonight with ya, I'll get the sleeping bag and sleep on the floor so you can have the bed, that sound good?" Richie asked, tilting his head a bit.

Bill shook his head, his eyes glistening a bit in the low light.

"No...you can s-sleep right next to me on your b-bed, I don't mind"

There was a pause, an uncomfortable silence washing over the two of them briefly. Lucky for him, Bill couldn't see that Richie's blush had increased ever so slightly. Why was this bothering him so much?? It was just a sleepover, no big deal, right? Business as usual. But...something in the back of his mind nagged at him, something that he couldn't quite shake. Why was Bill's request making him feel so weird? Who knows, for now he couldn't focus on that, he shook his head to break himself out of his thoughts before he answered Bill.

"Oh sure, Big Bill, I can do that, certainly....just give me a moment, I'll get you some spare clothes to wear"

He then straightened out, walking over to the dresser nearest to the door. He opened one of the drawers and shuffled around for a few moments, his mind swimming with different thoughts as he picked out a shirt, pj pants, and socks for Bill.

'Jesus why do I feel so hot all of a sudden??? It's like--40 degrees outside, I'm surprised I'm not shivering my ass off....hopefully these clothes fit Bill well enough, I don't exactly wear the same size as the dude, he's like--tall as shit! Always has and always will be---'

As he turned around, he managed to be witness to Bill taking his shirt off, which made him stop in his tracks briefly. Richie had seen the other take his shirt of MANY times in their lives, when they were kids, and in the gym in both middle and high school whenever they were changing into their gym uniforms. But why...now of all times, did he freeze when he saw him taking his shirt off? His face was burning he noticed and he placed his hand to his cheek, pulling back only a moment later when he felt hot to the touch. Bill looked up at him, tilting his head a bit in confusion.

"Uh...Rich? You alright there?" Bill asked, a bit concerned.

Richie simply shook his head, walking over with the clothes and handing them to him, clearly a bit embarrassed.

"Y-yeah! I'm perfectly fine, Big Bill, I promise! Just got a bit lost in my head when I saw that sexy strip-show a moment ago" Richie joked, laughing a bit.

Bill rolled his eyes, laughing as well as he slid the shirt the other had picked out for him, which didn't seem to fit him all that well. He looked down at the shirt before looking back to Richie, bursting out into laughter. Richie couldn't help but burst out into laughter as well.

"Wow Big Bill! You look like the Jolly Green Giant in that shirt of mine! Jesus, I didn't know I was THAT tiny compared to you!" Richie joked, mimicking the pose of the Jolly Green Giant before keeling over with laughter.

The red-head laughed a bit harder as he slipped the shirt back off, tossing it aside with his shirt. The two laughed for a good while before breaking off again, Bill was already starting to feel better than before, the incident wiped completely from his mind in the present moment, all he could think about was being here, joking with Richie and having a good time. He wiped his eyes from the tears that had slipped from his eyes in the midst of laughter, sniffing a bit as he adjusted himself to be laying fully on his back on Richie's bed, his gaze directed at the ceiling.

"Thanks, I-I appreciate you let me stay here tonight" He eventually said, his hands placed behind his head.

"Of course, you and all the losers are always allowed to crash here at el casa de Richie! My door and bed are always open"

Richie soon joined the other, laying across from him at the other end of the bed, he too looked up at the ceiling, the same ceiling he looked up at whenever he had a hard time sleeping at night, the same ceiling he contemplated life looking at...the same ceiling he looked at while thinking of Bill and all the other losers. He would never admit to it unless provoked out of him, but he couldn't stop thinking about the red head, he was on his mind quite often this school year, many images would flash into his mind whenever he crossed his mind, ones of when they were kids, playing guns in The Barrens, the way his hair shone brilliantly in the sunlight as if it were in a constant state of flaring up like a bonfire, or whenever he smiled he seemed to make the entire room stop, taking its breath away for a single moment. He didn't know how one single person could do that...but he did know that Bill was able to do it, and could do it well. Richie looked over at Bill, noticing that he'd slipped out of his pants and socks and into Richie's pj pants and socks in the time that he was lost in his thoughts, causing him to smile a bit. Soon enough, the silence was broken again by the sound of Bill's voice.

"So Rich...what was that about l-liking my sexy strip-tease earlier?" Bill asked, sitting up to look at Richie properly, a devilish smirk on his face.

Richie sat up with a start, his hands placed firmly in his lap as his head turned to the side, preventing himself from looking his best friend directly in the eyes. His eyes wide and his cheeks began to flush again with embarrassment.

"Well uh...you know---I was talking about you taking your shirt off, alright?" Richie replied.

Bill cocked an eyebrow up, his smirk widening as he moved close to the other, his face inches away from Richie's.

"I see...well then y-you wouldn't mind d-doing the same then, hmm?"

His gaze turned back to the red head's, his face, so he believed, incredibly red all the way to the tips of his ears. He could feel Bill's breath against him, their skin was so close he could also feel the heat radiating off of him. Richie looked at Bill, looking into his eyes...his beautiful blue eyes, and was stunned to silence for a moment. He couldn't think, his mind was swimming with a million thoughts at the same time, nothing coherent was gonna come out of his brain...that was for sure. Soon, his body began to move on its own, making actions that he didn't seem to consciously be making. Richie moved his hand up and placed it gently to Bill's cheek, his eye lids drooping a bit as he gazed at him. Bill didn't reject the hand, he simply placed his free hand on top of it.

"Or...how about I do this instead?" Richie said, unaware that words were even coming out of his mouth.

Without so much as double-guessing, Richie leaned in and planted a kiss to Bill's lips, a gentle but firm kiss. One that could deepen if both parties wanted. Bill was surprised at first by the sudden kiss, but he didn't reject it, it felt...right, just like being in Richie's room felt right. Just as Richie had been thinking about him, he'd been thinking about Richie as well, thinking about how funny Richie was and admiring him for how he'd stand up for himself, even if it got him trouble. He remembered when they rode down Upmile Hill earlier in the day, how he felt safe and free knowing that Richie was there as well, going down the hill with him, laughing with him the whole way down, maybe panicking like he did as well on the inside. Soon he felt himself slowly slinking backwards, first to sit, then to laying down on his back, Richie hovering over him. The kiss deepened briefly, both seemingly not wanting to break apart...they both wanted it to last forever, but there had to be a break for air sometime. After breaking apart, Bill looked to Richie, his face nearly as red as his hair.

"That...w-works too" He said, laughing nervously.

Soon realizing what he'd done, Richie backed off from Bill, sitting at the end of the bed while covering his mouth, his face a burning crimson.

"Holy shit I'm so sorry I had no idea what came over me--" Richie replied after uncovering his mouth, "I understand if you don't wanna stay here or if you wanna leave or whatever"

Bill simply laughed, crawling over to grab one of Richie's hands, rubbing the back of it with his thumb in soothing circles.

"I'm not g-going anywhere...it wuh-was a nice kiss, just warn me n-next time so I can be prepared"

That wasn't the reaction Richie had expected, he fully expected his best friend to get so angry at him that he'd get up, storm out of his house, and he'd never hear from him again. He'd been so focused on the negative that he didn't expect that....the experience was more positive for the both of them. Bill tugged at his hand until eventually he had the other laying right next to him, to which he leaned his head on his chest and closed his eyes.

"We'll talk more about this in the m-morning if you want, I'm exhausted and I w-wanna rest" Bill stated, yawning as he snuggled himself up against Richie to gather his warmth.

Richie smiled, moving one of his hands to gently pet his flaming hair, which was soft to the touch.

"Sure...goodnight Big Bill, have some nice dreams" Richie replied, looking back to the ceiling before closing his eyes.

The two would sleep soundly, holding each other close, not wanting to let go. They needed each other, though they wouldn't realize this till later on the next day, they needed each other just as much as they needed the rest of the losers. They had a bond that would never be severed...and they both would make sure of that.


End file.
